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Tag: Baghdad

  • Blackwater Shootings: Killers Hiding Behind The Military

    On September 16, 2007, employees of military contractor Blackwater USA opened fire in a Baghdad traffic circle called Nisoor Square. They killed 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including a 9-year-old boy who was riding with his father. Many more were injured.

    New evidence is expected to be introduced by U.S. prosecutors in the upcoming trial of the Blackwater security guards, who are facing charges of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and gun violations.

    The guards’ defense is that they believed they were under hostile fire at the time. The trial is scheduled to begin in June.

    Friday, in a court ruling, the Justice Department prosecutors stated they must be allowed to introduce further evidence that establishes the defendants’ motivation for the shootings.

    “In the year leading up to the events of Sept. 16, 2007, several of the defendants harbored a low regard for and deep hostility toward the Iraqi civilian population, which they openly expressed to other Blackwater personnel,” the Justice Department filing stated.

    “This evidence tends to establish that the defendants fired at innocent Iraqis not because they actually believed that they were in imminent danger of serious bodily injury … but rather that they unreasonably and recklessly fired at innocent Iraqi civilians because of their low regard for and hostility toward Iraqis,” the filing added.

    What the prosecutions court filing indicates is that Blackwater guard Nicholas Slatten stated he wanted to kill as many Iraqis as he could as “payback for 9/11.” He allegedly boasted about the number of Iraqis he had already shot, including an old Iraqi woman who was holding a knife. That incident occurred while Slatten was in the Army, the filing stated.

    In many areas in Baghdad, Slatten intentionally fired his weapon to initiate return fire, thereby establishing gun battles in a manner that was against policies that governed Blackwater personnel in Iraq, the court filing said.

    Four months prior to the Nisoor Square shootings, prosecution alleged that defendants Evan Liberty and Paul Slough had intentionally fired automatic weapons from a Blackwater armored vehicle without taking aim, and with disregard for who might be hit by the shots.

    This blatant disregard for human life should be punished. This bloody incident illustrates the lack of proper oversight by the government in many military contracts and the difficulties associated with holding the companies and their employees accountable when crimes or misdeeds occur.

    There have been many other allegations of abuses and illegal activities by Blackwater. Several of these examples follow the description of the Nisoor Square shooting incident.

    Image via YouTube

  • Baghdad Brothel Shooting Leaves 12 Dead

    January is shaping up to be a violent month in Iraq. According to Agence France Presse (AFP), the death toll rose by at least 12 on Tuesday when gunmen attacked an apartment that served as a brothel in the Zayouna area of Baghdad.

    Liquor stores and brothels seem to be a popular target. On December 7, gunmen attacked 12 liquor stores in Baghdad, killing nine people.

    In May 2013, an attack on liquor stores in Baghdad left at least 10 dead. In that attack, gunmen allowed customers to leave the stores unharmed. The dead were all store employees and were reportedly of the Christian faith.

    A week later, gunmen attacked a brothel in the Zayouna area, killing 12.

    Although no major US news agencies have picked up the report of Tuesday’s brothel killing – and it sounds suspiciously similar to the May attack – there is no denying that violence in Iraq has escalated alarmingly in the past year.

    According to Shashank Joshi, a Research Fellow at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London and Harvard doctoral student, the increase in violence can be explained by three trends:

    1. The increasingly authoritarian stance of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
    2. The rise of protest – both peaceful and violent – among the Sunni minority that comprises 1/5 of Iraq’s population
    3. Increased sectarian tensions between Shia and Sunni Muslims

    On Monday, Vice President Joe Biden made a phone call to Prime Minister al-Maliki to express US concern over the increasing violence and to convey support for Iraq’s fight against the local arm of al-Qaida.

    Biden also spoke to Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi who is a Sunni leader and frequent and outspoken critic of al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government.

    Presumably, Biden made contact with both leaders in an attempt to bolster collaboration between the two opposing denominations of the Muslim faith.

    According to a White House statement, “Prime Minister Maliki affirmed the importance of working closely with Iraq’s Sunni leaders and communities to isolate extremists.”

    Meanwhile, as Iraqi government forces battle al-Qaida for control of key cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi, Secretary of State John Kerry has said that no new US troops will be deployed to the region.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Hellfire Missiles Sent to Iraq, U.S. Plans to Send Drones Next Year

    By request, dozens of Hellfire missiles were sent from the United States to Iraq last week. The Iraqi government also requested the delivery of 10 Scan Eagles surveillance drones by March of next year; thus, the U.S. plans to also send along F-16s and helicopters.

    The war devices will be of assistance to governmental forces in combating the outburst of violence occurring in both western Iraq and Syria territory.

    The United Nations has reported that the Baghdad government has ran out of Hellfire missiles and is struggling to prevent the violence of an extremists group by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

    The Islamic fighters from Syria alone have already slaughtered nearly 8,000 civilians.

    According to The Seattle Times “…the group has intimidated towns, assassinated local officials and, in an episode last week, used suicide bombers and hidden explosives to kill the commander of the Iraqi army’s 7th Division” at a training camp.

    On Sunday, State Department official Jen Psaki issued a warning statement that the Islamic state, an al Qaeda affiliate, was in pursuit to gain “control of territory inside the borders of Iraq.”

    Just this past Wednesday on Christmas day, al-Qaeda committed three bombings in Christian areas of Baghdad killing dozens of people.

    The fiery conflict in Iraq has become contradictory to the Obama administration’s claims years ago that Iraq was on the right track.

    This present request mirrors a similar request from Iraq months ago.

    The U.S disbursed over 2.7 billion in Foreign Military Sales to Iraq last July, which comprised of infantry carriers, ground-to-air rockets and 681 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

    The Pentagon’s reasoning THEN was to “…provide Iraq with the ability to contribute to regional air defenses and reduce its vulnerability to air attacks and also enhance interoperability between the government of Iraq, the US, and other allies.”

    Evidently, the motive behind this recent assistance is still the same.

     

    Image via Wikimedia Commons